Bauchi 2019: Why MA Abubakar will emerge victorious
By
Abubakar Mu’azu
It is evident that the crave to acquire power
just for the sake of remaining relevant in the scheme of things is driving some
political desperados in the country to ridiculous and inexplicable extent
including rigging and other forms of manipulation and brigandage to win
elections. The purported re-election of the Speaker, House of Representatives,
Yakubu Dogara, in February 23, 2019 National Assembly polls in Bauchi state,
without a doubt, falls squarely in the category of a sham election where all
decency, decorum and fair play were thrown to the winds.
Dogara’s so-called re-election on the platform of
the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to represent Dass/Tafawa
Balewa/Bogoro Federal Constituency of Bauchi state in the House of
Representatives is already mired in steep controversy, having been tarred with
the brush of fraud and massive irregularities and consequently rendering the
exercise a nullity, void and unacceptable. Dogara had polled 73,609 votes to defeat
the APC candidate, Dalhatu Kantana, who scored 50,078 votes.
But the Chairman of the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC) in Bauchi state, Alhaji Ahmed Nana, while citing widespread
irregularities, called for the cancellation of the result and asked the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh election in
the constituency.
Nana, who made the party’s position known at a
press conference at the party’s secretariat in Bauchi, said the election, which
returned Dogara to the House of Representatives for the fourth time, was marred
by irregularities.
He said, “As far as the APC is concerned, there
was no election in Bogoro local government area and we will not accept the
results. The elections were marred by irregularities and malpractices.
Elections took place in many polling units without the use of card readers.
“APC members were brutalised, beaten to a state
of coma. Some were locked up for hours, card readers were smashed and some were
even set ablaze. People disguised as security agents and attacked our people.”
He added, “We call on INEC to declare the
elections there as inconclusive. We call on all relevant agencies to do all
things possible to address our demands because, if we are pushed to the wall,
we will be left with no choice but to take the last option.”
In his reaction, the state chairman of the PDP,
Hamza Akuyam, alleged that the state governor, Mohammed Abubakar, and other APC
chiefs were desperate to stop Dogara’s re-election. The PDP accused the APC
government of allegedly being desperate to subvert the will of the people.
“As a lawyer and former REC, His Excellency
ought to know that once a candidate has been declared a winner of an election,
the only option for his opponent is to go to the election petition tribunal,”
he said.
He said the statement credited to the APC was a
confirmation of failed plots aimed at subverting the wishes of the Dass, Tafawa
Balewa and Bogoro people whom Dogara represents.
He noted that while the party claimed, on one
hand, that the election held in Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Federal
Constituency was marred by irregularities, it also alleged, on the other hand,
that there was no election at all in Bogoro local government area, some parts
of Wai ward, Lere North, Lere South, and Tapshin ward of Tafawa Balewa local
government area.
“The obvious contradictory stand is the futile
effort to fish out reasons for crying wolf,” he added.
He insisted that the election held in the three
local government areas was peaceful. He alleged that APC members tried to cause
confusion in some polling units so that there would be reason to declare the
election as inconclusive but they did not succeed.
It is instructive that the incumbent Governor of
Bauchi state, Barrister Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, has been having a running
battle with Dogara and some political jobbers of the state’s extraction, who
have conspired to stop the governor’s re-election bid in this Saturday’s
governorship election. The massive irregularities characterized by unbridled
brigandage deployed by Dogara and his co-travellers during the presidential and
national assembly elections on February 23, 2019, could therefore be seen as
part of the grand plot to unseat the governor and the ruling APC in the state.
But just like all previous gang-ups against
Governor Abubakar, which have failed on all fronts, this current plot shall
also fail as the governor has seen through their unholy plot and is ready to
take them to the cleaners this Saturday. The governor has reiterated the fact
that: “In 2015, as the political soothsayers said, I came from the blues.
Nobody saw me coming but Allah gave me victory as the candidate of the party,
and ultimately as governor of the state. People failed to realise the kind of
fight I had to put up in 2015. I had with the sitting national chairman of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in power from Bauchi state. I had the minister
of the Federal Capital Territory from Bauchi state and I had the sitting
governor of the PDP in Bauchi, yet I got the victory”.
If Governor Abubakar can surmount all these obstacles in 2015 from the ‘cold’, in a manner of speaking, how much more will he achieve now with the developmental indices, statistics, massive goodwill exemplified by his adoption by 30 political parties as their governorship candidate for this Saturday’s election, and an impressive pedigree in his favour?
If Governor Abubakar can surmount all these obstacles in 2015 from the ‘cold’, in a manner of speaking, how much more will he achieve now with the developmental indices, statistics, massive goodwill exemplified by his adoption by 30 political parties as their governorship candidate for this Saturday’s election, and an impressive pedigree in his favour?
The governor summed up his achievements thus:
“You can go to Azare; they will tell you that I am working for them. I am
building roads for them. Go to Jama’are, Itas-Gadau, Giade, Toro, Dass, Ganjuwa
and Bauchi, they will all tell you the same thing. In Bauchi, you will see the
work I am doing. I can assure you and the people of Bauchi state that we will
continue to deliver dividends of democracy”.
Is there any wonder then that Governor Abubakar
is set to cruise to a landslide victory on Saturday just like he secured
victory for President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term and thereby affirm his
firm grip on Bauchi politics, notwithstanding the treachery and political
chicanery of the Dogaras?
Mu’azu writes from Bauchi.
Mu’azu writes from Bauchi.
Bauchi 2019: Why MA Abubakar will emerge victorious
Reviewed by PEOPLES MAIL
on
04:02
Rating:
No comments: